The Met Office has issued its latest platinum jubilee forecast, and it doesn’t look that great, with the threat of rain as the UK prepares to celebrate the Queen’s 70th birthday.
The four-day festive weekend will start with a good start and warmer conditions before it gets cooler and more unsettling.
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Thursday will be dry and mostly sunny for the southern areas, when the queen is expected to delight the crowd with an appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to mark the start of the celebrations after Trooping the Color. However, the northern areas will see periods of heavy rainfall.
It will be a similar image for most Fridays – when a Thanksgiving service is planned at St. Paul’s Cathedral – with some areas enjoying “a lot of sunshine”, although it could rain in the center and in the north of England, according to the Met office.
Sunny blue skies and dry weather are expected on Saturday with temperatures reaching 20 ºC (68 ºF), which will be good news for those heading to the Epsom Derby race and later the Platinum. BBC party at the palace open-air concert.
On Sunday, thousands of people will gather across the country as more than 85,000 large retirement lunches and street parties are organized.
But those picnicking and taking part in the spectacular parade through central London on Sunday could face a more restless weather, with a cloudier, colder day and a certain risk of showers.
The weather office said the weekend looks “quite settled, with most places again seeing fairly good, dry weather, with a risk of showers on the south-east and east coasts”.
Meteorologists will monitor the path of a plume of warm air from the mainland as the weekend approaches.
It could cause heavy rains, however, which can be supplanted by drier climates and “rather warm” temperatures as a high pressure system is installed.
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Met Office meteorologist Richard Miles said, “Most people should see some sun.”
But partygoers who go to outdoor celebrations would be wise to be prepared for any eventuality.
“You’ll be unlucky if you have to use an umbrella, but take one just in case, because you never know,” he said.
“You’re more likely to need sunglasses than an umbrella.”